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Only 24 hours after staggering through one of the most draining defeats in Fall Classic history, the Blue Jays played with total control.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr crushed a two-run home run and Shane Bieber provided a steady start as the Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 4 on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium, squaring the World Series at two games each and guaranteeing the matchup will return to Canada.

The Blue Jays had spent the morning of the next day processing their marathon third game defeat – tied for the lengthiest Fall Classic contest ever – a defeat that denied them the opportunity to take the lead in the series and depleted both relief corps. Manager John Schneider stated afterwards that “the Dodgers won a contest, not the championship”. Twenty-three hours later, his squad offered emphatic evidence.

Early Action

The Dodgers again struck first. Max Muncy drew a walk in the second inning, moved up on a base hit and crossed the plate on Kiké Hernández's fly out. But the early score did not shake a Blue Jays team that topped MLB with 49 comeback victories this year.

They responded immediately in the third inning. Lukes hit a one away base hit to center field and Vladimir Guerrero Jr stepped in hunting a breaking ball. Shohei Ohtani left a slider up and he sent it soaring over the outfield fence. It was his initial extra-base hit of the World Series and his seventh home run this playoffs – a new team record – regaining the Blue Jays's lead after 13 shutout innings and changing the tone of the game.

Ohtani's Performance

That hit also ended Shohei Ohtani's record-setting streak of 11 consecutive at-bats getting on base. The dual-threat star had smashed two homers and reached safely a historic nine times in the Dodgers' Game 3 walk-off. But on that night, he started on short rest – his shortest ever – after requiring an IV to recover from the previous extra-inning game.

Ohtani fastball velocity was under his seasonal average and he struggled more as the game wore on. Even so, he showed glimpses of his usual command, setting down 11 of 12 after Guerrero's homer and striking out six. He even drew a walk in the first inning to continue his Fall Classic streak. But the Toronto forced him to labor: six base hits and four runs were credited to him in six-plus innings.

Late Game Rally

The larger problem for the Dodgers was what followed when he eventually ran out of steam.

Daulton Varsho started the seventh inning with a sharp single to right field, and Clement smashed a double off the fence to put runners on with no outs. Dave Roberts had little choice but to pull the starter, who exited to a standing ovation from the local fans. The Los Angeles' relief corps could not finish the escape.

Anthony Banda inherited the jam and right away trailed in the count. Andrés Giménez battled to a full count before scoring Varsho with a base hit to left field. Ty France followed with a groundout to make it 4-1, and that was sufficient to remove the pitcher out of the game. Treinen came in next but also failed to stem the rally: Bichette and Addison Barger punched RBI base hits through the diamond, capping a four-score outburst that pushed the margin to 6-1.

Toronto's Resilience

The Blue Jays's ability to withstand early blows and answer has characterized their entire postseason. They once again succeeded without Springer, the hurt top-of-the-order man who left Game 3 after straining his oblique.

Shane Bieber, meanwhile, was exactly what the Blue Jays needed. Traded for during the summer while finishing rehab from elbow surgery, the ex- award-winning winner left several runners and quieted the Los Angeles' potent lineup. He gave up one run on four hits and three free passes before the manager summoned first-year pitcher Fluharty to face the core of the order in the sixth inning. He needed just 4 pitches to get out Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, protecting a narrow lead that soon became comfortable.

Converted starting pitcher Chris Bassitt then worked a clean seventh and eighth as the Dodgers' bats continued to struggle. The Dodgers have scored only 3 runs over their previous 20 frames, an sudden slowdown for a team that ranked among baseball's top offenses all season.

Final Innings

The Los Angeles scraped a score in the ninth inning when Tommy Edman grounded out to bring home Hernández after a base on balls and Muncy's double put runners on base. But Varland closed it down without permitting a comeback to develop.

After a night when Toronto stranded a Fall Classic-record 19 runners and fell apart after wave upon wave of missed opportunities, Game 4 was ruthlessly efficient. 6 different Toronto players collected hits, 5 brought home runs and the team cashed nearly every run-scoring opportunity available in the final stanzas.

Looking Ahead

The win ensures the World Series title will be awarded at Rogers Centre, where the Toronto have not celebrated a championship since Joe Carter's famous game-winning homer in '93. They now are aware they are assured a full crowd in Toronto on Friday night – and perhaps the next day – no matter what occurs next in LA.

The fifth game approaches with the series reset and momentum shifting north. Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell (3-1, 2.42 ERA) will try to halt the Toronto's momentum. Toronto respond with first-year player Yesavage (2-1, 4.26 ERA) in a repeat of the opener, when the Blue Jays knocked out Snell early in an decisive victory.